Marinated Champignons

Name: Marinated Champignons with Onion and Garlic - Quick Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Fresh champignons 0.5 kg; Red onion 1; Garlic 1-2 cloves; Fresh hot chili pepper 1; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Green onions 2-3; Water 2-2.5 l; Salt 0.5 tsp (3 g); White vinegar 1-2 tbsp; Wine vinegar (white or red) 50 ml (a quarter cup); Brown sugar 1 heaping tbsp (20 g); Bay leaves 4-5; Black peppercorns 10-12; Allspice berries 2-3; Cloves 1-2; Dried oregano 0.5 tsp; Vegetable oil 2 tbsp; Ground black pepper to taste

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20 mins

How to marinate button mushrooms quickly?

0.5 kg of mushrooms boil for 3 minutes in 2–2.5 l of water with 0.5 tsp of salt and 1–2 tbsp of vinegar, then are drained and tossed with a marinade of a quarter cup of wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, bay leaves, pepper, onion and garlic. They soak it up in an hour or an hour and a half, but taste best the next day.

Marinated champignons are surprisingly easy and quick to make. They are a worthy, very tasty appetizer, or even a side dish if you like. All you need are fresh mushrooms (small ones are best), spices and ordinary vegetables that every home fridge has. Ideally, make the appetizer a day ahead so the marinating takes its time. But if you can’t wait, the mushrooms can be eaten after an hour.

Marinating is generally considered a way of preserving various foods or making preparations for storage, like the much-loved pickled plums. But as experience shows, it is often simply a good way to make “quick” appetizers from all sorts of ingredients. Usually, the quick methods just mean cooling boiled or blanched ingredients in the marinade. After that the dish is ready to serve and eat.

Unlike marinating for preservation, the quick method is meant more to give the dish the flavor of the marinade than to keep the food. This is how vegetables, mushrooms, boiled meat and various firm berries are prepared. It is simple and fast, which makes the method common and popular. I remember that as a child my grandmother poured marinade over whole boiled heads of cabbage, and it was delicious.

A marinade always contains an edible acid: vinegar (plain, wine or apple cider), often citric acid or citrus juice. The mixture is often sweetened, which gives it a particular taste. Spices, including table salt, are used almost always. Besides that, herbs and the pulp of sour fruits can give amazing results.

I recommend using small mushrooms so you don’t have to cut them into pieces. This is purely for looks: a small mushroom on a fork looks great! The mushrooms must also be fresh, with no signs of spoilage.

They say champignons can even be eaten raw, and there are even recipes for appetizers and salads with them. Marinated champignons can be kept in the fridge for a while, though it is best to make them for one sitting. But for marinating they need to be boiled very briefly, or at least covered with boiling water for a while. This shortens the time the mushroom caps take to soak up the marinade. To keep the mushrooms from darkening while they cook, lightly salt the water and add 1-2 tbsp of vinegar.

More with button mushrooms

Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

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Jiaozi, Chinese Dumplings

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Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Red Onion in Sauce

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Pasta with Mushrooms

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Pork Chops with Mushrooms Baked under Cheese

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More button mushrooms recipes

Ingredients

2 servings

Mushrooms and vegetables
Fresh champignons 0.5 kg
Red onion 1
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Fresh hot chili pepper 1
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
Green onions 2-3
For boiling
Water 2-2.5 l
Salt 0.5 tsp (3 g)
White vinegar 1-2 tbsp
For the marinade
Wine vinegar (white or red) 50 ml (a quarter cup)
Brown sugar 1 heaping tbsp (20 g)
Bay leaves 4-5
Black peppercorns 10-12
Allspice berries 2-3
Cloves 1-2
Dried oregano 0.5 tsp
Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
For serving
Ground black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Boiling the mushrooms

These marinated champignons make a very tasty appetizer, and you can vary it with other spices and vegetables. If you like, make it spicy, or leave out the hot pepper altogether. You can also adjust the amount of strong-smelling ingredients to taste. A plastic container with a lid is handy for soaking the mushrooms in the marinade.
Wash the fresh champignons thoroughly, removing any bits of substrate and damaged spots.
Heat 2-2.5 liters of water in a pot. Add 0.5 tsp of salt (3 g) and 1-2 tbsp of plain vinegar to the water, so the mushrooms don’t darken.
Drop the champignons into the boiling water. Boil the mushrooms for 3 minutes after the water returns to a boil.
Drain the mushrooms in a colander and immediately rinse with cold water. This stops them from continuing to cook in their own residual heat. The same trick is used when cooking vegetables al dente.

Marinating

Prepare the spices for the marinade: 1 heaping tbsp of brown cane sugar (20 g), 4-5 small bay leaves, 2-3 allspice berries, 1-2 cloves, 10-12 black peppercorns and 0.5 tsp of dried oregano.
Brown sugar gives the finished dish a pleasant flavor, and oregano is a common ingredient in marinades, marinated champignons being no exception.
In a cup, mix a quarter cup (50 ml) of wine vinegar (white or red) with all the spices. Stir well until the sugar dissolves.
Transfer the prepared champignons to a plastic container.
Peel the onion and slice it into thin strips.
Peel the garlic and hot pepper and chop them finely.
Combine the mushrooms with the vegetables and the prepared marinade. Mix gently and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
Stir the mushrooms with the marinade once more, cover the container with the lid and put it in the fridge.
The minimum time for the mushrooms to soak up the marinade is an hour to an hour and a half. But the tastiest appetizer is the next day. I’ve noticed that if the mushrooms marinate for a few days, they get even better. So it’s up to you.

Serving

Before serving, drain all the liquid from the container.
Finely chop the green onion tops and parsley leaves. Add the herbs to the mushrooms and stir.
Divide the champignons among small salad bowls and serve. By the way, it is very good with a little freshly ground black pepper right before serving, which adds aroma and flavor at once.

Calories and macros

260 kcal

Serving ≈ 1520 g

Protein9 g14% of kcal
Fat15 g51% of kcal
Carbs23 g35% of kcal

100 g17 kcalProtein 0.6 gFat 1 gCarbs 1.5 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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